Box Score MANCHESTER, N.H. – Rodney Sanders (Linden, N.J.) totaled 14 of his 16 points in the first half as Southern New Hampshire University closed out the regular season with a 65-51 Northeast-10 men's basketball victory over Saint Michael's College Tuesday night at the SNHU Fieldhouse. The Penmen, who are ranked No. 7 in the East Region, won their third in a row to improve to 16-10 and 12-10 in the NE-10, while the Purple Knights see their season come to a close at 8-18 and 5-17 in the league.
The win, coupled with Adelphi University's loss at Southern Connecticut State University, gives the Penmen sole possession of sixth place in the final Northeast-10 standings after being picked 12th in the preseason poll. Southern New Hampshire will travel to West Haven, Conn. to take on No. 3 seed University of New Haven for a 3:00 NE-10 quarterfinal on Sunday afternoon. New Haven took the lone meeting of the season between the two clubs by a 75-60 score on January 19 in West Haven.
Sanders finished 5-8 from the floor and 4-6 from three-point land to lead three Penmen in double figures. He also dished out five assists. BJ Cardarelli (Manchester, Conn.) was 5-10 from the floor and finished with 14 points and five rebounds, while Mike Stys (Hooksett, N.H.) added 12 points.
James Cambronne led Saint Michael's with 14 points and 10 rebounds on the evening. Greg Grippo recorded 12 points, while Derek Knutty added 11 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.
Southern New Hampshire trailed just once in the early going and led 15-12 when it went on a 18-2 run capped by a Cardarelli three-pointer to take a 33-14 lead with 5:12 remaining in the first half. The Penmen took a 38-19 lead into the locker room.
Saint Michael's attempted to get back in the game early in the second half, cutting the lead to 14, 42-28, with 16:38 to go on a basket by Grippo. Southern New Hampshire responded with an 8-2 spurt capped by a Kostas Mantalvanos (Athens, Greece) dunk with 10:08 left that made it 50-30. The Penmen took their largest lead, 59-32, with 6:56 to go on a pair of Cardarelli free throws to cap a larger 17-4 run.
Southern New Hampshire shot 51.7% in the first half and 41.8% for the game while holding Saint Michael's to 28.6% shooting for the contest. The Penmen drained 10 of their 28 three-point attempts while the Purple Knights were 6-23, and SNHU was 9-14 at the free throw line while SMC was 9-15. The guests held a 48-35 rebounding advantage.
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